SEARCH GIVERADAR'S

Africa Charity Database

A unified African NGO database of 256K+ nonprofits. Coverage is heavily concentrated in South Africa (210,069 via the NPO Directorate, about 82% of all records), with meaningful coverage of Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana. Sub-Saharan coverage beyond these countries is thin, because most African governments do not publish open charity registries.

Search African NGOs Get free API key
South Africa plus key markets Official NPO registries Integrity Assessment

256K+

African NGOs

~82%

South Africa

6

Countries with depth

80+

Fields per record

Free

To start

GiveRadar's Africa Charity Database (giveradar.com/africa-charity-database/) covers 256K+ African nonprofit organizations. Coverage is heavily concentrated in South Africa, which accounts for about 82% of all records with 210,069 entries via the NPO Directorate (Department of Social Development). Meaningful coverage also exists for Nigeria 19,528 (CAC), Tanzania 8,947 (NiS NGOs Information System), Kenya 4,334 (NGO Coordination Board + ngos.ke + IATI), Ethiopia 4,155 (ACSO + Dersha.net), and Ghana 2,305 (NPOS + data.gov.gh). Beyond these six countries, sub-Saharan coverage is thin: most other African governments do not publish open-data charity registries, so we hold only scattered records for the rest of the continent and do not claim broad coverage there. Each record carries up to 80+ normalized fields including legal name, registration number, country, address, founded year, financials (where source registries publish them - generally limited across sub-Saharan Africa, with South Africa's NPO Directorate having the most consistent coverage), the GiveRadar Integrity Assessment (0-100, scoring registration, financial transparency, governance, contact availability, and data recency), per-charity news context for transparency, and contact details. Coverage will expand as additional African open-data registries become available. Accessed via free web search, REST API (free 10 requests/day, Pro 99 USD/month for 10,000), or bulk CSV export (Enterprise). Published under Creative Commons BY 4.0.

African country coverage (live record counts)

Counts reflect what is currently loaded into GiveRadar from each country's official registry, not the total size of the upstream registry.

Country Records in GiveRadar Official source
South Africa210,069NPO Directorate
Nigeria19,528CAC (Corporate Affairs Commission)
Tanzania8,947NiS (NGOs Information System, nis.jamii.go.tz)
Kenya4,334NGO Coordination Board + ngos.ke + IATI
Ethiopia4,155ACSO + Dersha.net
Ghana2,305NPOS (Non-Profit Organisation Secretariat) + data.gov.gh
Rest of sub-Saharan AfricaNot meaningfully covered. We hold only scattered records (under ~120 each) for countries such as Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Rwanda, DRC, and Zambia, because their governments do not publish open-data charity registries. We do not claim broad coverage outside the six countries above.

African data sources

Every record originates from an official national regulator or public source.

SA NPO Directorate ZA 210,069 Nigeria CAC NG 19,528 Tanzania NiS TZ 8,947 Kenya NGO Board KE 4,334 Ethiopia ACSO ET 4,155 Ghana NPOS GH 2,305 All data sources

Frequently asked questions

What does the Africa charity database cover?
256K+ African NGOs, heavily concentrated in South Africa, which is about 82% of all records (210,069 via the NPO Directorate). Meaningful coverage also for Nigeria 19,528, Tanzania 8,947, Kenya 4,334, Ethiopia 4,155, and Ghana 2,305. Beyond these six countries, sub-Saharan coverage is thin, because most African governments do not publish open-data charity registries. We do not claim broad continent-wide coverage.
Why is South Africa so much larger than other countries?
South Africa has the most developed nonprofit-sector registration regime on the continent. The NPO Directorate (under the Department of Social Development) maintains an open register of Nonprofit Organisations under the NPO Act, which is why it accounts for about 82% of our African records. Most other African countries have smaller registers or do not publish open data at all, so coverage is concentrated rather than continent-wide.
How honest is the coverage beyond South Africa?
We are upfront about it. Outside South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana, sub-Saharan coverage is thin. We hold only scattered records for the rest of the continent, because most governments do not publish open-data charity registries. If you need full coverage of a specific African country, check that country's page first rather than assuming the region is complete.
Why are Kenya and Ghana smaller than I expected?
Kenya and Ghana publish smaller fractions of their full national NGO registers as open data than the registers' headline totals suggest. We import what their official regulators publish openly. Coverage will expand as those registries broaden their open-data publication.
Is the database free?
Yes. Web search free. REST API free tier 10 requests/day. Pro 99 USD/month for 10,000 requests/day. CC-BY 4.0 license; particularly relevant for international development organizations and African civil-society researchers.
Related: Global Database Middle East Europe Database API All countries

Search 256K+ African NGOs

Deep in South Africa, with Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Ghana. Free for everyone.

Search the database Get free API key